25 Mar 2026 20:32:26
My team for the run in fellow Celts
Sinsalo
Arthur
Trusty
Scales
AJ or Arajo
Hetate
Calmac
Engels
KT or Saracchi
Maeda
Nygren
Forget the other wingers, go 3-5-2 and use the wing backs and throw the kitchen sink.
HH.
{Ed007's Note - Why the fascination with 3-5-2, it is one of the easiest formations to play against, the players we have showed under Nancy they can't play 3 at the back and we don't have 2 strikers worth starting places.
The squad is ready made for a switch to 4-2-3-1 and I was surprised Rodgers didn't revert to that when he came back....
----------------------------Sinisalo----
-AJ/Aruojo(?)--Trusty/Arthur----Scales----KT---
--------------------CalMac----------Engels-----
-Yang----------------------Nygren----------Maeda--
--------------------- Iheanacho/Cvancara------
Throw Hatate into the mix of the pivot 2, Tounetki coming on......
25 Mar 2026 21:10:20
Zero clean sheets in our last 7 league games for the first time in many years suggests that a new formation is needed.
A 4-2-3-1 system would give our back 4 better protection and also help to control games easier.
Engels could make a big impact beside Calmac and Nygren would be better suited playing his favoured Number 10 position.
Celtic definitely need to change something.
26 Mar 2026 06:46:41
Can’t disagree with your team Ed, Engels being the engine beside calmac (captain communicator organiser ) Engels for me is the only player capable of making up some the ground Nygren leaves free, I’d prefer reo roaming in front of Engels and calmac but nygrens goals can’t be ignored suppose,
With how we never spent a penny in Jan Dyu think we should have paid a penalty and demanded Palma back?
{Ed007's Note - As soon as I seen Palma playing I thought "that lad's never a winger" and said he should have been given a run out as a No.10/CAM.
I don't think he would have made much of a difference but it would have been another option I suppose.}
26 Mar 2026 10:50:30
Ed, Nancy played 3 at the back but expected the 2 wide defenders to bomb forward effectively leaving 1 (Trusty) at the back. What little confidence the boy was building was crushed by Nancy. MON then plays him on the wrong side of a CB pairing.
A 3-5-2 with proper wing backs/ defenders providing the width in midfield would be a much stronger defensive unit and in no way comparable to Nancy's nonsense tactics.
Also, it would give us increased steel and numbers in midfield, where we've been swamped all season under the 4-3-3 system. Nygren definitely worth a try further forward as he is at his most dangerous in and around the box.
{Ed007's Note - Any team with fast wingers can easily counter against a back 3 with long (diagonal) balls when the WB is out of position, with only the WB covering each flank, he is left exposed by quick switches of play or it ends up 2v1 with the oppositions FBs & wingers. Could KT's body handle the step up in fitness/endurance required to play as a WB with no winger in front of him or to help him defensively?
3-5-2 is one of the easiest formations to set up to play against.}
26 Mar 2026 19:57:17
Palma always had a high “packing” rate which shows he would’ve been better as a Number 10.
Packing is when a player takes out opponents with a pass or dribble.
{Ed007's Note - Damn Buzz, I was teetering between a wisecrack about carrying a gun or stuffing things up your bum to get into jail and then I thought of the NFL and the Americanisation of our game to an extent and I found this rabbit hole from 8 years ago:
www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/8wjczg/packing_the_most_important_football_statistic/